About the House. 27 



The eggs are from three to five in number, white in color, spotted heavily 

 with reddish brown, particularly on the larger end. They are almost three 

 quarters of an inch long, and a little more than half an inch in width. 



Another of the wood birds seen about our houses is the Myrtle Bird or 



Yellow-rumped Warbler. These birds are so definitely marked in the spring 



, as to be easily identified. Old males are conspicuous by 



/y yr e ar er. ^j^^ bright yellow patch on the crown and rump, supple- 



Dendroica coronata (Linn.). i-i ri i- 



mented with a patch of the same color on each side of 

 the breast, in strong contrast to an area of intense black between them. The 

 throat is white. The upper parts are bluish gray, streaked with black. 

 The outer tail feathers have white spots on their inner margin, near their 

 tips. The adult female is similar to the male, but much duller in color. In 

 the autumn and winter the sexes are still more alike. There is a general suf- 

 fusion of brown, darkest on the upper parts, obscuring the brilliant pattern of 

 colors, which still may be detected, but more plainly if the plumage is ruffled. 

 Birds in first plumage lack the yellow, except that some individuals have it 

 on the rump. The whole plumage is thickly streaked with dusky brown and 

 grayish white. The length of the bird is five and three quarters to six inches. 



The nesting habits are similar to those of the Black-poll Warbler, and 

 the eggs, from three to five in number, are white, spotted rather obscurely, es- 

 pecially at the larger end, with reddish brown or olive brown. They are about 

 seven tenths of an inch long and rather more than half an inch broad. 



The birds are found in North America but chiefly east of the Rocky 

 Mountains. They breed from the Northern United States northward, and 

 are found in winter from Southern New England through the West Indies 

 and Mexico to Panama. 



Audubon's Warbler is a bird of Western North America, which ranges 



east to the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains. It has been recorded 



once from Pennsylvania and also from Massachusetts as 

 Audubon s War- . , , ^ , 



.J an accidental straggler. 



Dendroica auduboni I" general appearance and color it closely resembles 



(Towns.). ^j^g Myrtle Warbler, and is of about the same size, but has 



a bright yellow, instead of a white throat. 



Its breeding habits are very much like those of the Myrtle Warbler. 



